1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems and more particularly to radar systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Radar systems are known to determine relative location information concerning one or more objects within a scanning area. Such radar systems range from ground based radar systems that track objects in space in various earth orbits, to radar that tracks aircraft, to radar that tracks weather systems, to police radar that tracks vehicle velocity, to moving radar on a vehicle to track other vehicles within a proximal area. Each type of radar system is constructed to illuminate the scanning area with transmitted wireless pulsed or continuous signals and to analyze the resulting reflected wireless signals to detect objects and determine the location information. Time based location information and/or Doppler shift analysis may reveal velocity information. The wireless signals may include radio signals and/or light (e.g., laser) that suites the application. For instance, radio frequency (RF) wireless radar systems may operate at 50 MHz for long distance radar, at 2 GHz for tracking aircraft in the sky, at 7 GHz for tracking weather, at 10 GHz for aircraft near an airport, at 24 GHz for tracking vehicles on roadways, and other higher frequencies including light for specialized applications.
Depending on the type of radar system, the antenna system may mechanically move or may be electronically steered to transmit and or receive the radar signals in a particular direction within the scanning area. For instance, the weather radar system may utilize one common directional dish antenna to transmit and receive radar signals where the antenna is mechanically rotated fully to scan 360 degrees of azimuth. In another instance, an aircraft tracking radar may utilize a common phased array antenna system comprised of a plurality of antenna elements fed with radar signals produced by phasing equipment where the radar signals are phased in a way to produce transmit and or receive antenna pattern beams.
As is also known, typical radar systems utilize antenna structures, phasing equipment, and transceivers that are discrete, bulky, and costly thus rendering them difficult to adapt for certain applications. For instance, many prior art radar system are not particularly well suited for vehicular based radar for applications such as vehicle collision warning, lane change warning, and/or lane departure due to their size and cost.